The High Ground
by Darth Kieduss the Wise
Summary: Darth Vader manages to seize the high ground before Kenobi does.


**I've always thought, what if Darth Vader had the high ground on Mustafar? And I say Vader, not Skywalker. I don't get triggered like a stupid feminist would, but I roll my eyes whenever I see someone calling him Anakin after his fall to the dark side. My view is that Anakin died on Coruscant when Sidious dubbed him Darth Vader.**

 **Vader: I Have a Clone Army.**  
 **Kenobi: I Have the High Ground.**

 **Also, this scene takes place before Kenobi learned the power to "become more powerful than you can possibly imagine", so no disappearing act.**

Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi clashed blades over the lava. The heat burnt their clothes but they continued to battle. The two duelists engaged in a blade lock. Both sabers whined as one attempted to over-power the other. Suddenly, Vader's previous gift of precognition invaded his mind.

 _Vader missed at cut at Obi-Wan's legs as the Jedi Master flew past him._

 _Obi-Wan turned his dive into a forward roll that had him landing on the lava bank. Vader cursed himself as he realized he'd been suckered. It could not be heard, but the two combatants exchanged some dialogue. Then, Vader lept._

 _But he was half a second too slow._

 _With two circular swings of his lightsaber, Kenobi first brought his blade through Vader's left arm above the elbow, then through his left knee, then the other knee._ _Suddenly, the vision changed to show Vader, maimed, crippled and screaming with rage and pain, catching fire and burning his entire body._ _Then, finally, Vader saw himself as a cyborg in a black suit._

A deep mechanical breathing filled his ears.

Knowing where the duel of the new fates would end, Darth Vader called upon his new unleashed dark side powers to leap towards the top of the hill. Vader turned his dive into a forward roll that left him barely teetering on the rim of a low cliff, just above the soft black sand of the riverbank. He turned and held his blade to guard, facing Obi-Wan, who stood alone on the droid platform. The dark side had helped him again, had increased his speed and strength. It had helped finally Dooku once and for all. It had seen him succeed against the most powerful Jedi in the Temple. It gave him the courage to finally end the Separatist threat, where the Jedi Code would've limited him to trying to take them alive. Killing them not only brought peace to the galaxy, saving millions of lives, mostly clones, but it ended a threat to Padme's lives. The Dark Side was the true way. It _wanted_ to help him. The Force would not let him die. He truly was the Chosen One.

"It's over, my old master!" Vader called with a smirk, extending his arms in triumph. "I have the high ground!"

Obi-Wan knew he was too old and too slow. He should have reacted faster and seen the advantage sooner. _How could I have been so stupid?_ His mind racing, he thought his younger years as a Padawan. Facing off Darth Maul. The Sith Lord had the high ground, yet Kenobi had managed to strike him down. Kenobi could've been struck down as he lept. Had Maul's arrogance not caused him to let his guard down, he could've reacted much faster to Obi-Wan's leap and would have taken advantage of the high ground that he had, taking the galaxy to a very different fate...

Could he do it again, only this time, with his younger former apprentice? The last time he lept over Darth Maul in such a circumstance was built by rage and a lust for vengeance in reaction to Qui-Gon's mortal wounding. That's what fueled him, just like what he now suspected fueled Anakin's victory over Dooku. Could he do it...again?

Obi-Wan knew the dangers to his life, and the danger to the freedom of the galaxy, if he failed. He couldn't lose. He _wouldn't_ lose. He couldn't just leave the fight for another day. Obi-Wan had to end this _now_. As he knew a dark presence was nearing, he had to take Amidala safely away and find Master Yoda.

"Anakin, please, come back to the light!" Obi-Wan desparately pleaded.

"You underestimate my power!" Vader growled as he stared down at Obi-Wan, his eyes turning a furious yellow.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming himself in the Force. He could feel Vader's scorn, knowing what the Jedi Master was going to do. Vader might as well have scoffed _Don't try it._ Trusting in the Force, Obi-Wan let out a grunt as he lept over Vader, just as he had over Maul. He knew he cou-

A blue lightsaber sliced through Obi-Wan Kenobi's waist, all the way through. Obi-Wan fell in two pieces and tumbled towards the lava river. Obi-Wan let out a loud scream as he managed to stop his descent, clawing for ground only for his fingers to simply dig into ash. The lightsaber he had for years fell into the lava and exploded as the kyber crystal inside was destroyed.

"I told you, old man," Darth Vader growled without even deactivating his lightsaber or turning to face Kenobi. "Not underestimate my power! You no longer can hold me back."

Obi-Wan looked up at Vader, laying in pieces on the soil-encrusted high ground. Vader turned and slowly moved down to the lava bank, taking one last look at him.

"You were too weak. I was _always_ stronger than you. I was _born_ stronger. And now, you've failed. This will be a day long remembered. Finally, the Jedi will be no more."

Looking up, he saw the soaring shuttle of Darth Sidious moving towards Padme's ship. Darth Vader raised his blue lightsaber up to the fire-burnt sky to finish off the last shackle in his life. In his last moments of life, Obi-Wan looked up into the eyes of his successor. Death was imminent, yet he smiled. He saw a tear falling down the Sith Lord's left cheek. Vader felt a brief moment of confusion. Obi-Wan knew the truth. Anakin Skywalker was still alive and he would return. Maybe not now or anytime soon. But his best friend, his brother, was still there.

"When I left you, I was but the learner," Vader admitted. "But _now..._ NOW _I_ am the master."

Darth Vader finally ended the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi with a powerful swing. The mutilated man didn't utter a sound as his eyes closed for the last time. Vader stared at the body before him, feelings of unimaginable guilt and sorrow overtaking his mind. Vader berated himself for what he had just done. He was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.

He just killed his brother. The one man he felt was a father to him.

However, his feelings of sorrow soon turned to anger and jealousy. Vader decided that Obi-Wan had brought this upon himself. Obi-Wan didn't have to be so blindly obedient to prove a point. The Jedi didn't have to deny him what he desired. They were arrogant and therefore deserved no more pity. To Vader, the Jedi Masters were to blame for Obi-Wan's death, as well as their own. _They_ had denied him masterhood and the knowledge he sought, when he was himself their equal. No. Their _superior._ Hate gave way to rage. And rage gave way to vengeance. Vader knew he would make the survivors pay for denying him what was his. He was following the path of power that the masters could only dream of. Vader knew of the dark side and the ancient Sith Lords that had roamed the galaxy before him. He _was_ the dark side.

Darth Vader left him there to smolder near the lava bank. Uncertain of his emotions and feeling numb to towards it all, he walked up the river bank and over high ground to meet up with his wife and his master. He was about to request assistance with Padme, when Sidious turned to Commander Thire.

"Get a medical capsule for her, immediately," he commanded.

"Yes, sir, right away," Thire complied, nodding at a corporal.

"I appreciate that, my master," Vader said, kneeling before Sidious.

"You have done well, my apprentice," Sidious congratulated as Tarkin descended from the shuttle. "There are none left to oppose us. The galaxy is ours now."

"I sensed your fight with Yoda, master," Vader said. "I did not feel his death."

Sidious waved his hand in dismissal of Yoda and motioned for his apprentice to rise. "It matters not. Yoda will soon be dealt with. He is strong in the Force, but he is only one Jedi. What matters is the galaxy is ours now. Your new weapon, Lord Vader."

Sidious revealed a black lightsaber. It reminded Vader of Anakin Skywalker's first lightsaber, which he constructed on Illum, except it was black instead of silver.

Vader took the lightsaber into his hand, turning his back to his master. He examined it in his hand. It felt like his first one, albeit heavier than because of the red synthetic crystal. Suddenly, Vader tossed his new lightsaber into the air. Catching it in his right hand, the blade emitted a red crimson blade. Before anyone could react, Darth Vader thrusted his lightsaber into his master's chest. Sidious could do nothing but express shock as the blade entered him.

The clones raised their rifles at Vader, but did not fire.

As Darth Sidious's life began to fade, Vader reached out with the dark side of the Force. All the knowledge that Sidious held became Vader's knowledge. Now Vader could save Padmé without his master. When Sidious was no longer useful, Vader removed and deactivated his lightsaber. The Emperor's body crumbled to the floor without uttering a word or sound.

Vader turned to face the clones. "No...The galaxy belongs to me!"

The clones looked at each other, but they did not oppose. Darth Vader was the new Galactic Emperor of the Galactic Empire.

"Commander Thire," Vader said.

"Yes, my lord?" Thire said calmly.

"Prepare the ship for departure," Vader said.

"It will be done." Thire said. "You heard him men, get this ship ready for take off."

The galaxy was his now. He and Padmé would rule the galaxy. Vader would sit on the throne, with her by his side, their child in her arms.

 _This will be a day long remembered,_ Vader thought. _Soon the Jedi will be no more. Now there will be a new era. An era of order and peace._

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